Richard’s Road Race report – Winter series race 6

A really nice day but very windy! I didn’t feel that great from training but decided pretty early that I would need to stay at the front of the race to ensure I was in the right place when the race split up. It was too windy for it to stay together.I was trying my best to stay in all the moves, which used all my energy. When the move happened I was caught out at the back again! At that point it looked like my race was pretty much over as I think 20+ riders had got away. I’d pretty much accepted defeat but was riding hard to make the most of the training opportunity. Then in the distance we saw the group in front of us and this gave us all hope. The top riders had got away from them forcing the rest to slow down and we soon caught them.Once the race came together again I decided to use the opportunity to have a rest as I’d spent most of the race in the red. This was one of the hardest races I’d ridden in ages! There were still 6 riders away from us but it looked like a sprint would decide their final placings.The remaining laps saw a rider pull off one of his cranks. His pedal was still clipped in and the crank arm was left dangling from his shoe! Luckily I avoided the incident and was well placed for the sprint .A rider tried to get away with half a lap remaining and I didn’t react quickly enough which left me towards the back of the bunch and I only finished in 27th place.I’m not sure if I will race the rest of the series as I’m in need of some serious mileage. However I will keep you updated if I do decide to turn up.Richard JeromeWell I’m sure we all urge Richard to continue racing. He has a good battling spirit and he gives a good insight into race tactics. Keep racing Richard! Miles Back